Friday, September 6, 2013

Czeched out

Andrea Hlavackova, who--earlier in the day--won the U.S. Open mixed doubles title, has advanced, with partner Lucie Hradecka, to the women's doubles final. The Czech team beat Serena and Venus Williams 6-4, 6-2 in tonight's semifinal match.

How do you beat the Williams sisters in doubles? You serve really well, and you hit the ball right at them--repeatedly. Hlavackova and Hradecka never let up on their aggression, and they ruled at the net from start to finish.

In the final, the Czech team will play Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua. This is an interesting match-up from a stats point of view. Barty and Dellacqua were the runners-up this year at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon. Hlavackova and Hradecka were the runners-up last year at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, and they won a silver medal at the Olympics. The Czech team, however, has tasted major victory, as they won the French Open in 2011.

Meanwhile, the women's wheelchair doubles final will be contested by top seeds Jiske Griffioen and Aniek Van Koot, who will face 2nd seeds Sabine Ellerbrock and Yui Kamiji.

The women's wheelchair final will be played between top seed Ellerbrock and 2nd seed Van Koot.

I STILL Stand With Maria

About the blog author

Diane Elayne Dees is a writer, a semi-retired psychotherapist in private practice, and a life-long fan of women's professional tennis.

For several years, Diane published the progressive blog, The Dees Diversion, and she also contributed regularly to the Mother Jones MoJo Blog. Diane has published political essays, short fiction and creative nonfiction. For the past several years, she has concentrated on writing poetry (Diane has written several tennis-themed poems).